Fanny Crosby wrote,
Tell me the story of Jesus,
Write on my heart ev’ry word;
Tell me the story most precious,
Sweetest that ever was heard.
For centuries, the Church Calendar is one way that the universal Church has told the story of Jesus over and over again, year in and year out, even when the world around us is in flux and chaos. When you experience the Church calendar as a whole, you walk through the story with Jesus.
When it comes to Sunday worship, however, most Christians have only ever jumped into major moments in the story, such as the birth of Jesus at Christmas and his resurrection at Easter. Some also observe his entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and his crucifixion on Good Friday, and in recent years there’s been renewed interest in Advent.
But what about the life of Jesus? What about the years between Christmas and Easter? That’s a major part of the story that, I think we can all agree, is greatly neglected.
The Feast of Epiphany (always January 6) and the season that follows it is an invitation to walk with Jesus through the part of the story between Christmas and Easter, with a focus on how it reveals the glory of the incarnate Son of God. Epiphany focuses on those moments when the veil of human flesh was pulled back just enough to let some of the divine Light shine forth—or to use another metaphor, when the uncontainable divine Light shone through the pores of human flesh.
For example, Jesus’s first miracle at Cana of Galilee is one event that is celebrated during Epiphany, and John 2:11 tells us that “this, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory.”
Notice the word “manifested.” That’s what the word “Epiphany” means—a manifestation. When someone says, “I had an epiphany!” they mean “I had a revelation! An idea manifested itself to me—it suddenly appeared to me!” Second Timothy 1:9–10 says that God’s purpose and grace has been “manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus”—which in Greek is the epifaneia or epiphany of our Savior Christ Jesus.
The first season of the Church year, Advent, prepares us for Christ’s coming. The second season of the Church year, Christmas, celebrates Christ’s arrival. The third season of the Church year, Epiphany, reflects on the glory of Christ’s life—especially how key moments “manifest” the identity of Jesus as God incarnate.
Since Epiphany marks so many days in the life of Jesus and beholds the glory of Christ manifested within them, Fleming Rutledge says that “there is a sense in which Epiphany is the most specifically christological season.” For this reason, Epiphany has been one of the major feasts of the Christian year throughout Church history. And although it is now forgotten in some parts of the Church, the majority of the Church throughout the world still celebrates it right up there alongside Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost.
Today, January 6, is the Feast of Epiphany, and it kicks off the season by focusing on three key manifestations in the early life and ministry of Christ:
- The coming of the wise men or “magi”
- The baptism of Christ in the Jordan river
- The miracle at Cana of Galilee
First, Epiphany celebrates the coming of the wise men. The wise men were Gentiles, not Jews. Before the wise men come, the focus of the Gospels is on Christ as the Savior of Israel. Matthew says that he came to save his people (Israel) from their sins. Mary sings, “He has helped his servant Israel.” Zechariah rejoices, “The Lord God of Israel has visited and redeemed his people.” But when the wise men show up, magi from the far East, it is the first and clearest manifestation in the New Testament that Christ did not just come as the Savior of Israel, but as the Savior of the whole world—of all nations. This is a major theme, not a minor theme of the New Testament. Ephesians 3:1–11 is read on the Feast of the Epiphany, and it makes the extraordinary claim that the mystery of God, hidden for ages, but now revealed, is that “the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” It is easy to take this for granted, but is at the very heart of apostolic preaching.
Second, Epiphany celebrates the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan river. At the baptism of Jesus, the identity of Christ was manifested or revealed by God himself, as a voice from heaven proclaimed, “This is my beloved Son.” As the Holy Spirit descended on Christ like a dove, the baptism of Jesus manifested the entire Holy Trinity—the voice of the Father from heaven, the Son incarnate in the water, and the Spirit descending in power. This is the first place in Holy Scripture and in human history that God begins to manifest the deepest truth about his identity—that God is three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The glory of Jesus is manifested at the baptism in that he is proclaimed as second person of the Godhead, coequal in majesty in glory, sent into the world and anointed with the Spirit to accomplish our salvation.
Third, Epiphany celebrates the miracle at Cana of Galilee. As I explained earlier, this is because of what we read in John 2:11: “This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.” The divine power of Jesus is witnessed at Cana as he turns around 120–180 gallons of water into wine (the equivalent of about 600–900 bottles today). Jesus is shown to be God and the one who has come to bring the superabundant blessings of the new covenant to his people.
Now, it’s worth noting that not all Christians celebrate Epiphany in exactly the same way. The Western Church focuses on the three wise men on January 6, the baptism on the Sunday after January 6, and the miracle at Cana of Galilee on the second Sunday after January 6. The Eastern Church focuses on the baptism on January 6 and calls it “Theophany,” which means “The Manifestation or Epiphany of God.” The point, though, is that the whole Church focuses on how the identity of Jesus and of God is manifested in the events of Christ’s early life and ministry.
Brothers and sisters, everyone is different. Some people love the church calendar. They get excited to learn about it and to practice it. And there’s been a major revival of the church calendar happening among young adults—people in my generation. But please hear me when I say this: Even if you don’t care much about the church calendar as such, do not lose sight of what it’s all about. Even if you don’t observe the calendar per se, I hope we can all agree that there is tremendous value in giving closer attention to the key moments in the life of Jesus so that we can see God’s glory more fully revealed in the face of Jesus.
Epiphany brings to the forefront two of my favorite verses in 2 Corinthians: “God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6). And “we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:18).
I am so glad that our church’s hymnal, Our Great Redeemer’s Praise, includes a section of Epiphany hymns, hymns 204 to 219, although my guess is that many people have only ever heard one or two of them, like “We three kings of Orient are.” The final verse of that hymn captures the spirit of Epiphany:
Glorious now behold Him arise,
King and God and Sacrifice,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Sounds through the earth and skies
Hymn 210 in our hymnal connects the manifestation to the wise men with the baptism in the Jordan and the wedding at Cana:
The eastern sages saw from far
And followed on His guiding star;
By light their way to Light they trod,
And by their gifts confessed their God
Within the Jordan’s sacred flood
The heav’nly Lamb in meekness stood,
That He, to whom no sin was known,
Might cleanse His people from their own.
And O what miracle divine,
When water reddened into wine!
He spoke the word, and forth it flowed
In streams that nature ne’er bestowed
All glory, Jesus, be to Thee,
For this Thy glad epiphany:
Whom with the Father we adore
And Holy Spirit evermore.
And then hymn 212:
Songs of thankfulness and praise,
Jesus, Lord, to You we raise;
Once revealed, when heaven’s star
Brought the wise men from afar;
Branch of royal David’s stem
In Your birth at Bethlehem,
Word before the world began,
God revealed to us in man.
God revealed at Jordan’s stream,
Prophet, priest, and king supreme;
Once revealed in pow’r divine,
Changing water into wine;
Cana’s holy wedding guest
Keeping to the last the best;
Word before the world began,
God revealed to us in man.
God revealed in valiant fight,
Conquering the devil’s might;
Sins forgiven, sickness healed,
Life restored and God revealed;
Once revealed in gracious will,
Every bringing good from ill,
Word before the world began,
God revealed to us in man.
Stars shall fall and heavens fade,
Sun and moon shall dark be made;
Christ will then like lightning shine,
All will see the glorious sign;
All will then the trumpet hear,
All will see the Son appear,
Word before the world began,
God revealed to us in man.
Hallelujah! That makes my heart sing. I love how that last verse looks forward to the glory that is yet to be revealed! Epiphany gives us a foretaste of glory to deepen our longing for the beatific vision, when we will behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus in heaven, and be perfectly happy in direct experience of God! The Epiphany hymn “As with Gladness Men of Old” concludes with this prayer, and I hope that it is the prayer of your heart today:
Holy Jesus, ev’ry day
Keep us in the narrow way;
And when earthly things are past,
Bring our ransomed souls at last
Where they need no star to guide
Where no clouds Thy glory hide.
Glory to Jesus Christ!
Glory forever!
